At the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, the United States saw a dramatic spike in fatal road accidents across the country, and that trend continued throughout the height of the pandemic, despite fewer total vehicles on the roads and less overall time spent driving. The Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program, launched in 2022, is helping to reverse this alarming trend; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) estimates indicate a decline in roadway fatalities for the fifth quarter in a row – but while these initial successes highlight the efficacy of the SS4A program, it’s clear that there remains plenty of work ahead in making the nation’s streets safer for all road users.
At the end of October, the Department of Transportation announced a series of planning grants to 235 local, regional, and Tribal communities totaling $82 million. In this announcement, five communities in New Jersey are slated to receive a combined total of $920,000. A second announcement is expected in December, which will include more grants for planning and demonstration as well as implementation grants to enact necessary changes. Applications for grants in the fiscal year 2024, which will be the third year of the five-year SS4A grant program, are expected to open in February.
Edison Township is slated to receive a $320,000 grant for the development of an action plan. Edison, with its population of 107,588, cited its large population, lack of comprehensive pedestrian infrastructure, and heavy truck traffic in its grant request as factors requiring an action plan to improve the transportation infrastructure to ensure pedestrian, motorist, and cyclist safety.
The City of Englewood is expected to receive a $200,000 planning and development grant to formulate an action plan. In its application, Englewood officials expressed that the city’s road network is unprepared for the anticipated increase in pedestrian traffic caused by the planned introduction of alternate modes of transportation. They cite the need for a comprehensive action plan to ensure the safety of all road users, with an emphasis on vulnerable pedestrians.
The Township of Mahwah has been promised a grant for $80,000 to be used for the development of an ambitious action plan. Its application describes the intent to construct a plan to gather data on roadway safety within the township as part of an effort to achieve a 75 percent reduction of roadway fatalities and serious injuries by the end of 2028.
The City of Pleasantville expects to receive a grant for $200,000 to develop its own action plan. Though the municipality has a total population of only 20,630, it saw 5 fatal accidents as recorded by the NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) between the years 2017 and 2021 and has an annual fatality rate of 4.8 (per 100,000 people). According to its grant application, Pleasantville’s grant funding will be used to analyze crash data and develop a plan to address these apparent safety issues.
The Borough of Red Bank plans to receive $120,000 in grant funding to develop an action plan. While the total population of the jurisdiction is 12,936, approximately 39 percent of that population belong to disadvantaged communities, and Red Bank’s officials cite the municipality’s density and limited roadway space as factors that negatively impact the safety of all road users. Its grant application expresses the need for a comprehensive action plan that creates safer roadways and reduces crashes through a combination of policy change, road design, and judicious enforcement.
While the development of action plans is only the first step in creating safer roadways for New Jersey’s drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists, it remains an important and informative part of the process. Without conducting proper research into the factors underlying road fatalities, officials would run the risk of wasting money on ineffective solutions that failed to address the root causes of dangerous intersections and roadways. With the help of the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant funding, New Jersey officials and experts will be able to identify exactly what changes need to be made in order to make roads safer, and plan how to implement those changes most efficiently. The SS4A grant program allows federal funding to be used to conduct that research and planning most effectively – by local experts who know the communities and the roads that are being affected.
In previous SS4A grant announcements, 10 planning grant awards were distributed to New Jersey municipalities, counties, and organizations. Atlantic City, Cape May, Dunellen Borough, Medford Township, and Paterson received grants to develop action plans, as did the counties of Essex, Hudson, Monmouth, and Union. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority also received a grant award. The City of Vineland received a construction grant for $20 million, funding improvements to a 2.3-mile segment of Chestnut Avenue spanning from Route 47 to Main Road.
